Giants 3 - 1 Phillies
Final
  for this game

Pence, Bumgarner lift Giants past Phils

Jul 24, 2014 - 5:37 AM Philadelphia, PA (SportsNetwork.com) - Hunter Pence stroked a three-run double in the top of the ninth as the San Francisco Giants beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 3-1, in the third installment of a four-game set.

Jonathan Papelbon (2-2) hit Michael Morse and walked Brandon Crawford and pinch-hitter Hector Sanchez to load the bases with two away in the ninth. Pence took the count full, then lofted one down the line in shallow right field scoring pinch-runner Gregor Blanco, Crawford and Sanchez.

Madison Bumgarner (12-7) tossed eight scoreless innings and struck out six batters for the Giants in his third straight winning start.

"What a job (Bumgarner) did," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "He gave us everything we needed and more."

Santiago Casilla took over in the ninth for his seventh save of the season despite giving up Marlon Byrd's RBI single.

A.J. Burnett threw eight innings for the Phillies, who lost their fourth game in a row. He allowed only four hits and struck out six, but also walked four batters.

The Giants, who opened a two-game lead on Los Angeles atop the NL West, go for the four-game sweep Thursday afternoon.

Both starting pitchers were in command from the beginning. Burnett struck out three through the first three frames, only allowing one hit, while Bumgarner fanned three and gave up just two hits.

With two away in the top half of the fourth the game entered a rain delay, but about an hour later the pitchers picked up right where they left off.

The Giants finally got something going in the sixth. Buster Posey walked and Pablo Sandoval hit an infield single, but Byrd nabbed a fly ball hit deep to right-center by Morse that would've scored Posey.

The Phillies' chance came in the eighth. Carlos Ruiz and Domonic Brown started the inning with back-to-back singles, and Darin Ruf put down a sacrifice bunt to move them over. Bumgarner continued his dominance though, striking out Andres Blanco and getting Grady Sizemore, who was pinch-hitting for Burnett, to fly out to end the inning.

"The goal of the offense is to get a guy to third base and get him to score," said Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg. "That was the difference tonight. We weren't able to do that."

After Pence put the Giants up by three, Byrd drove in Jimmy Rollins to get one back for the Phils, but Casilla got Carlos Ruiz, who was activated off the disabled list prior to the game, to fly out to center to end the game.

Game Notes

The rain delay lasted for 59 minutes ... Pence leads the National League with 125 hits ... Philadelphia has lost each of its last five games against San Francisco. The Giants are trying to sweep a four-game set at Philadelphia for the first time since July 31 - Aug. 3, 1998 ... Prior to the game, the Phillies recalled pitcher Phillippe Aumont from Triple-A Lehigh Valley, optioned catcher Cameron Rupp to Lehigh Valley and designated pitcher Jeff Manship for assignment, along with activating Ruiz.






Related News